Adaptation as a basic conceptual focus in nursing theories / Donna Schwartz-Barcott -- Human needs and nursing theory / Jacqueline Fortin -- Applying the concept of need to patient empowerment / Penny Powers -- The concept of interaction in theory and practice / Susanne Wied -- The concept of culture and transculturality / Charlotte Uzarewicz -- The concept of holism / Hesook Suzie Kim -- Applying social science concepts to nursing : systems theory and beyond / Jens Friebe -- Existentialism and phenomenology in nursing theories / Hesook Suzie Kim -- Humanism in nursing theory : a focus on caring / May Solveig Fagermoen -- The health/illness continuum / Friedrich Balke -- Nursing and its science in historical perspective / Ingrid Kollak -- Appendix : synopsis of selected nursing theorists and conceptual models / Hesook Suzie Kim